Military Ancestors

Military Ancestors is a project created by Pam Preedy, which lists over 30,000 references to soldiers between 1914-1919, initially from the Bromley and District Times, in Kent.

The data Pam has extracted from the newspapers include men who enlisted from 1914 to the beginning of 1916 when conscription was introduced; The names and addresses of some 1,500 men of the Bromley area who had signed up for the Derby Scheme, (a precursor to conscription and a failed attempt to prevent it), in 1915; Details of letters from the Western Front, India, S. Africa, Gallipoli, and Mesopotamia; Obituaries; Awarded medals; Marriages; Inquests and court cases involving soldiers.

The men came, not only from the Bromley area, but from further afield within the UK, as well as from Canada and Australia.

Although the site is primarily about the soldiers, there are also some reports of Special Constables, VAD Commandants and nurses of the local VAD Hospitals.

Hugh Bertram Neely, 2nd Lieu., was first-class sportsman and Dentist, who died in a partially ruined village church near Ypres on 25th April 1915. His brother Clive died the following year. footstepstothepast.c…pic.twitter.com/Gba9…

Private Ronald Young Hedderwick of the Honourable Artillery Company. He was killed by a sniper having just woken up on the 16th May 1915. He grave is inscribed with the words 'HE FOUGHT HIS WAY TO EVERLASTING LIFE MET BY HIS GOD'S… footstepstothepast.c…pic.twitter.com/eaB2…